Countdown to Christmas - Create a countdown clock with your kids

Christmastime is filled with anticipation for your little ones, and it's likely that they'll wait anxiously for Christmas Day to arrive. Fortunately, there are ways to help your children use that anticipation in a productive way, while simultaneously creating a holiday tradition that your family will love. One of our favorite methods is creating a Christmas countdown clock.

Creating a clock that counts down to Christmas is a great way to get the family together and practice arts and crafts. It's very easy to put together and will help the little ones channel their anticipation in a productive way.

Supplies You Will Need

• A circular piece of wood
• Paintbrushes (one per child and one small paintbrush for you)
• White paint or black paint, as well as your children's favorite colors of paint
• Glitter (optional)
• Foam decorations (optional)
• Foam paper
• Safety scissors
• School glue
• A small nail and hammer, or a thumbtack
• A pencil
• A ruler
• 

Instructions

1. One of the best parts of making a Christmas countdown clock begins at the beginning. Take out your circular wood piece as well as your paintbrushes and paints. Encourage your children to paint on the circular wood piece in a creative way. Let them use their imagination, but be sure to put down newspaper or something similar under their workspace to avoid a mess.
2. Once your children have finished their masterpiece, allow the paint to dry. Then, it's your turn to start painting. Going around the edges of the clock, use a pencil to write numbers for the remaining number of days until Christmas. For example, if you're starting on December 1st, write your numbers in a clockwise (or counterclockwise if you want it to look more like a clock!) fashion starting with the highest number and ending with the lowest. It can be useful to use the ruler for this to make sure you have space for each number.
3. Once your numbers have been written on, paint them onto the clock using white or black paint. Use whichever color will be more visible.
4. Decorate! Making sure to leave room around the center of the clock for the hand, join your children in decorating the clock further, if you'd like. Foam cutouts with sticky backsides and glitter attached with school glue make beautiful additions.
5. Once your clock has been decorated, it's time to add the hand. Cut out an arrow shape from the foam paper that's long enough to reach the numbers. Place it facing the top number and pin it in place with the nail and hammer or thumbtack. It should be tight enough that the foam arrow is held in place but loose enough that it can be easily moved.
6. Turn your arrow to the currently remaining number of days and enjoy!

With this clock, you'll have a handy way for your children to know exactly how many days are left until Christmas. If you want to make it a true countdown, consider pairing your countdown clock with a precision Chelsea Clock mantel clock so your kids know exactly what time it is - and exactly how much time is left until Christmas.